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Supermileage Vehicle

The objective of the 2015-2016 BYU Supermileage team was to improve upon the results of the 2014-2015 vehicle. This was accomplished by improving the aerodynamics of the vehicle by building a new vehicle, building and designing a smaller engine that increased en-gine efficiency by reducing the displacement volume of the given Briggs & Stratton Junior 206 engine, reducing the weight of the SMV, and also by reducing the rolling friction coefficient. This was accomplished by April 15, 2016 using a budget of $23,600. The sponsor for this project was the BYU Department of Mechanical Engineering.

The team was able to design and build a Supermileage vehicle that was able to achieve 1380mpg during tests and is expected to get at least 2000mpg at the 2016 Shell Eco Marathon event. We were able to design, build and run a 47cc engine in the vehicle that is 19% efficient. We also decreased the weight of the vehicle by 10 pounds, reduced the rolling friction to 0.0017 and reduced the drag area coefficient to 0.0025.

The team found that the key to success was modeling and testing. The team was able to model the performance of the Supermileage vehicle and know how different parameters such as engine efficiency, rolling friction, drag area coefficient and weight affected the vehicle. After modeling we went to work to create the ideal car based on our model. We also tested components to make sure they functioned as expected.

This project benefited the BYU Department of Mechanical Engineering because it gave students an opportunity to not only apply their talents, passions and skills to a project but also develop new skills. One such skill was product development. This project helped us to gain valuable experience to better prepare us to work in industry.